Bull Put Down After Escaping Slaughterhouse, Running Along I-95

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — It’s turkeys that have to worry this week — but one black bull wasn’t taking any chances, and for good reason: he was at a slaughterhouse in Fishtown Wednesday afternoon, escaping while the transport truck was unloading cattle. Drivers on Interstate 95 were along for the ride.

“I rolled down my window and I screamed out to the bull, ‘please be careful,'” said motorist Deb Kucowski.

Northbound I-95 around Girard Avenue is about as far as you can get from Pamplona, Spain — until Kucowski found herself steering clear of a one-ton bull.

“He was just on the shoulder, trotting southbound as if it was nobody’s business,” she explained, “like he was supposed to be up on (I) 95.”

He exited at Callowhill Street, clopping to 8th Street near the highway overpass.

“There’s a park right here, you’ve got all these people getting out of work,” said veteran state Game Commission Officer Jerry Czech. ‘It could run into six or seven people, knock them over, hurt them. Who knows what could have happened?”

Czech says he and Philadelphia police decided to bring this Battle of Bull Run to a conclusion, courtesy of three rounds from his 12-gauge shotgun.

“We generally don’t do this — we’re wildlife officers,” he said. “But in an extreme situation, in an emergency situation, for public safety we chose to put it down.”

A bold bovine enjoying a few extra minutes of freedom.

“He was running for his life and he’s going to meet his death anyway,” Kucowski said. “It’s a shame.”